Section 17. Holder of Rights Certificate Not Deemed to be a Stockholder. No holder, as such, of any Rights Certificate will be entitled to vote or receive dividends or be deemed for any purpose to be the holder of the number of one one-thousandths of a share of Preferred Stock or any other securities of the Company that may at any time be issuable on the exercise or exchange of the Rights represented thereby, nor will anything contained herein or in any Rights Certificate be construed to confer upon the holder of any Rights Certificate, as such, any of the rights of a stockholder of the Company or any right to vote for the election of directors or upon any matter submitted to stockholders at any meeting thereof, or to give or withhold consent to any corporate action, or to receive notice of meetings or other actions affecting stockholders (except as specifically provided in Section 25), or to receive dividends or subscription rights, or otherwise, until the Rights evidenced by such Rights Certificate have been exercised or exchanged in accordance with the provisions hereof.
Section 18. Concerning the Rights Agent.
(a) Compensation; Reimbursement; Indemnification. The Company agrees to pay to the Rights Agent reasonable compensation for all services rendered by it under this Agreement in accordance with a fee schedule to be mutually agreed upon and, from time to time, on demand by the Rights Agent, the reasonable and documented out-of-pocket expenses and counsel fees and other disbursements incurred by the Rights Agent in connection with the preparation, negotiation, delivery, execution, amendment and administration of this Agreement and the exercise and performance of its duties under this Agreement, including any taxes or governmental charges imposed on it as a result of any action taken by it pursuant to this Agreement (other than taxes and governmental charges on the fees payable to it). The Company also agrees to indemnify the Rights Agent for, and to hold it harmless against, any loss, liability, damage, judgment, fine, penalty, claim, demand, settlement, cost or expense (including the reasonable and documented expenses and fees of its outside counsel) incurred without gross negligence, bad faith or willful misconduct on the part of the Rights Agent (which gross negligence, bad faith or willful misconduct must be determined by a final, non-appealable judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction) for any action taken, suffered or omitted to be taken by the Rights Agent in connection with the execution, acceptance, administration, exercise and performance of its duties pursuant to this Agreement, including the costs and expenses of defending against any claim of liability. The provisions of this Section 18 and Section 20 will survive the termination of this Agreement, the exercise, exchange or expiration of the Rights and the resignation, replacement or removal of the Rights Agent.
(b) Reliance by the Rights Agent. The Rights Agent is authorized to rely conclusively on, and will be protected and incur no liability for, or in respect of, any action taken, suffered or omitted to be taken by it in connection with its acceptance and administration of this Agreement, and the exercise and performance of its duties pursuant to this Agreement, in reliance upon any (i) Rights Certificate; (ii) certificate (or registration on the transfer books of the Company, including, in the case of uncertificated shares, by notation in book entry accounts reflecting ownership) for Preferred Stock, Common Stock or other securities of the Company issuable upon exercise of Rights; or (iii) instrument of assignment or transfer, power of attorney, endorsement, affidavit, letter, notice, direction, consent, certificate, statement or other paper or document reasonably believed by it, in the absence of gross negligence, bad faith or willful misconduct (which gross negligence, bad faith or willful misconduct must be determined by a final, non-appealable judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction), to be genuine and to be duly executed and, where necessary, verified or acknowledged, by the proper Person, or otherwise upon
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